Trainings

This free course is designed to equip early career researchers with the knowledge and skills to support mental health at multiple levels—individual, institutional and national. The training consists of three half-day modules that build upon one another but can also be taken independently.
The first module provides an overview of mental health in academia, exploring key individual and contextual factors that influence well-being. The second module focuses on institutional support, reducing stigma and building networks of allies. The final module examines systemic issues affecting researchers’ mental health, discussing policy frameworks and advocacy for change at national and international levels.
The programme will initially be piloted as a two-day hybrid workshop, with a core group of participants attending in person and an online audience engaging remotely.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Define mental health and understand its relevance to academic settings.
• Identify strategies to support their own mental well-being.
• Recognise key obstacles to mental health in research environments.
• Assess institutional resources and suggest best practices for improving researcher well-being.
• Build networks of allies and engage with institutional leaders to advocate for change.
• Understand the legal and policy frameworks surrounding mental health in academia.
• Develop leadership skills to promote mental health awareness at institutional and national levels.

Early Career Researchers (PhD Candidates and Postdoctoral Researchers)

• Need to understand and sustain their own mental health.
• Face challenges such as burnout, impostor syndrome and workplace stress.
• Motivated by the desire to build healthier research environments and career sustainability.

Supervisors and Senior Researchers

• Require knowledge of best practices for supporting the well-being of their team members.
• Need to recognise systemic challenges and their role in addressing them.
• Motivated by the responsibility of fostering inclusive and supportive research cultures.

Research Managers and Institutional Staff (HR, Doctoral Programme Managers, International Office Staff)

• Need to understand mental health issues affecting researchers at different career stages.
• Seek strategies to improve institutional policies and support mechanisms.
• Motivated by the goal of enhancing research culture and compliance with regulatory frameworks.